Department for Transport

M42

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to widen the M42; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: The current Road Investment Strategy includes two major schemes on the M42: improvements to Junction 6, and the M40/M42 interchange smart motorway scheme. In addition, further improvements are being prepared for the next roads period through the Birmingham Box Phase 4 scheme which will upgrade the remainder of the Birmingham box to smart motorway, providing an additional lane of capacity. The Department for Transport and Highways England recently launched the process to determine the content of the second Roads Investment Strategy, which will detail further planned investment on the Strategic Road Network from 2020 to 2025. As part of these preparations, the entire network, including the M42, will be reviewed through Highways England’s route strategy process. Details on this can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highways-england-route-strategies

Driverless Vehicles: Electromagnetic Fields

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has undertaken research on the potential effects of electromagnetic emissions on children who are passengers in autonomous vehicles.

Andrew Jones: All new vehicles are required to comply with United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE) Regulation 10, which governs the level of electromagnetic emissions from vehicles.

Shipping: Registration

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the UK Ship Register's obligations are in relation to seafarers' (a) employment and (b) collective bargaining agreements; and whether he plans to make changes to those obligations as a result of the recommendations of the (i) Maritime Growth Study and (ii) UK Ship Register Advisory Panel.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Seafarers’ employment conditions and collective bargaining agreements are a matter for agreement between management and workers/employers and seafarers. The UK Ship Register’s obligation is to enforce UK regulations ((Maritime Labour Convention) (Minimum Requirements for Seafarers etc) 2014). These regulations implement the international requirements relating to living and working conditions on board (the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006). No changes to that obligation were recommended by the Maritime Growth Study or UK Ship Register Advisory Panel.

Shipping: Registration

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish proposals for changing the status of the UK Ship Register within the Maritime and Coastguard Agency; and whether he plans that those proposals will be subject to public consultation.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Work by the department to explore options for ensuring the future competitiveness of the UK Ship Register is in progress. Any proposals for a change in status that are developed will be subject to appropriate consultation.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department has made an assessment of how much it costs on average to fill an individual pothole; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: The Department for Transport has estimated that on average it costs £53 to repair a pothole. However, the cost of filling an individual pothole will depend on a range of variables including geography, the type of road and whether the repair is temporary or permanent.

Roads: Lancashire

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when Lancashire County Council made its application to the Pothole Action Fund; what level its application to that fund was awarded; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: The Pothole Action Fund is worth £250 million over the next five years to local highway authorities in England, outside London. On 7 April the Government announced the share each local highway authority will receive from the £50 million available for 2016/17. Funding is allocated according to the length of the road network each local highway authority is responsible for as set out in the Department for Transport Road Statistics Publication. Lancashire County Council received £1,241,000 from the Pothole Action Fund in 2016/17. Further details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cash-for-councils-to-fill-almost-1-million-potholes

Department for Communities and Local Government

Housing: Carbon Emissions

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to promote the environmental practices developed during the construction of the Beddington Zero Energy Development in Hackbridge.

James Wharton: When completed in 2002 the Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZed) in Hackbridge was at the forefront in its use of low carbon and energy efficient technologies and sustainability concepts. Since then the Government has made significant changes to both the Building Regulations and planning regimes to embed and mainstream energy efficiency and sustainability principles, taking learning where appropriate from BedZed and other similar innovative sustainable developments.

Help to Buy Scheme

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people in (a) Wakefield and (b) the UK have purchased homes through Help to Buy.

Brandon Lewis: The total number of homes sold under the three Help to Buy schemes are 153,235 in the UK and 1,402 in Wakefield.

Help to Buy Scheme

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people in each income group decile and in each year have purchased houses through Help to Buy since that scheme started.

Brandon Lewis: The Department’s statistics on the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme are published and available at the following link. This includes a table with completions by total applicant household income deciles. The figures are cumulative (for the first 33 months of the scheme) and not available by individual years.https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/help-to-buy-equity-loan-and-newbuy-statisticsHM Treasury’s statistics on the Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee scheme are published and available at the following link.www.gov.uk/government/collections/help-to-buy-mortgage-guarantee-scheme-quarterly-statistics

Local Growth Deals

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much of the Local Growth Fund has been earmarked for (a) housing loan finance and (b) flexible grant funding.

James Wharton: The £12 billion Local Growth Fund includes £2 billion for housing loan finance and up to £7.1 billion of flexible grant funding.

Parks: Greater London

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he has had discussions with the local authorities concerned on amending the legislation that created the Lee Valley Regional Park levy in order to allow the London Borough of Sutton and other London local authorities the option of investing the money they currently contribute to the Lee Valley Regional Park through that levy into the Wandle and other regional parks.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Secretary of State has not held discussions about amending the Lee Valley Regional Park funding levy with the local authorities concerned.

Economic Growth: North of England

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the cost to the public purse was of the promotional film for the Northern Powerhouse project, Gunning for growth.

Mr Mark Francois: The Northern Powerhouse is GREAT investment film, paid for by GREAT, was created to promote investment into all parts of the Northern Powerhouse. It has already been shown in Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, Asia and Australasia. It was produced by Leeds agency Motiv Productions at a one off cost of just over £20,000.

Building Regulations: Fires

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to review Building Regulations Approved Document B (Fire Safety).

James Wharton: My Department is considering a number of issues related to the Building Regulations and the building control system. We will make an announcement about our plans in due course.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: European Social Fund

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much funding his Department received from the European Social Fund (a) between 2007 and 2014 and (b) from 2014 to the last month for which data is available.

Mr David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office did not receive any funding from the European Social Fund in either period.

Russia: Nuclear Weapons

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the level of Russian compliance with the provisions of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances of December 1994.

Mr David Lidington: The UK is not a signatory to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which is an agreement between the US and Russia, as well as successor states to the former Soviet Union, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. The UK, together with NATO Allies has called on Russia to preserve the viability of the INF Treaty through ensuring full and verifiable compliance. The INF Treaty is crucial to Euro-Atlantic security and stability.Russia’s action in annexing Crimea violates the UN Charter, is illegal under international law and breaches the commitments Russia made in the Budapest Memorandum. The UK does not, and will not, recognise the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia. As I stated in my response to the Rt Hon Member for Clwyd West on 9 September 2014 (208218), the UK, and international partners, continue to condemn unreservedly all illegal interventions by Russia in Ukraine.

Egypt: Non-governmental Organisations

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of its recent increases in financial support for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Egypt on the ability of those NGOs to operate effectively.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Our assessment is that programme effectiveness has not been compromised to date, despite growing restrictions on civil society. However, we continually review our programming to ensure it has maximum impact and represents value for money for the taxpayer.

Egypt: Non-governmental Organisations

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Egyptian government on recent actions taken against Egyptian non-governmental organisations.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are deeply concerned by growing restrictions on civil society in Egypt, including a proposed asset freeze against investigative journalist Hossam Bahgat and human rights defender Gamal Eid. After issuing a statement on 22 March, I raised this with the Egyptian Ambassador on 23 March, and again on 11 April. Our Ambassador to Cairo raised our concerns over restrictions on civil society with the Minister of Health and with senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in February 2016.I encourage the Government of Egypt to work with civil society organisations to implement the rights guaranteed by the Egyptian constitution and allow non-government organisations to operate freely.

Ukraine: Politics and Government

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of recent political developments in Ukraine; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: Ukraine has been in a political crisis since the resignation of the Economy Minister in February . Our message to Ukraine’s leaders during this time has been to stay focused on delivering reform, especially tackling corruption. The President, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet of Ministers and Parliament (Rada) have a shared responsibility to work together on this.On 14 April Volodymyr Groysman, the Rada Speaker, was appointed Prime Minister together with a new Cabinet. We hope this will give the Government of Ukraine the stability it needs to deliver the security and prosperity which the people of Ukraine demand.

Palestinians: Terrorism

Chris Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on allegations that the Palestinian Authority has given financial rewards to terrorists who have carried out attacks against Israelis.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Payments to Palestinian prisoners and their families are no longer made by the Palestinian Authority (PA), but by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation. We have repeatedly raised our concerns about prisoner payments at the highest levels with the Palestinian authorities and continue to press for greater transparency in the payments. UK direct financial assistance to the PA is used to pay the salaries of civil servants and pensioners only. Our support is provided through a multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank, which carries out close monitoring of PA expenditure. Only named civil servants from a pre-approved EU list are eligible, and the vetting process ensures that our funds do not benefit terrorist groups. The process is subject to independent auditing.

Egypt: Non-governmental Organisations

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether it is planned that officials of his Department will attend the trial of Egyptian non-governmental organisations scheduled for 20 April 2016 in Cairo.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Representatives of the Embassy attended the previous hearing on 24 March, and plan to attend the next hearing on 20 April. We are deeply concerned by growing restrictions on civil society in Egypt. I encourage the government of Egypt to work with civil society organisations to implement the rights guaranteed by the Egyptian constitution and allow non-government organisations to operate freely.

Germany: Russia

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the strength of German-Russian relations and their (a) effect on European energy security and (b) implications for the UK.

Mr David Lidington: Germany’s relations with Russia like those of all other EU Member States, have been significantly impaired by Russia’s aggressive behaviour in recent years. Germany has adopted all measures agreed by EU and NATO Member States in respect of their economic and political relationship with Russia.It is an overriding principle that in their dealings with Russia, all EU Member States ensure that they fully comply with EU legislation, including internal energy market legislation and competition law. This legislation provides a clear and stable framework that enables the delivery of sustainable, secure and competitive energy and supports long term investment in Europe’s and the UK’s energy market.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will publish the (a) agenda, (b) attendees and (c) matters discussed and decided at the forum on combatting weapons of mass destruction proliferation hosted by his Department in London on 12 April 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) is a voluntary initiative, endorsed by 105 states, to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Of those states, 21 form the Operational Experts Group (OEG) who support the PSI by developing and disseminating best practice for all PSI endorsing states to draw on. OEG members meet annually, hosted this year by the UK. All OEG member states were represented at this year’s meeting.The OEG discussed a wide range of issues, including current proliferation trends and challenges; transferrable skills and capacity building; intangible technology transfers; proliferation finance; aviation and shipping, including transit and trans-shipment; emerging threats; tools for capacity building and sharing best practice; legal issues; and outreach.

British Nationals Abroad: Zika Virus

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which countries his Department advises people not to visit on account of the threat to health there posed by the Zika virus.

James Duddridge: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not advise against travel to any country on account of the presence of Zika virus. The FCO travel advice advises British nationals who are planning travel to areas with confirmed cases of locally transmitted Zika virus to follow the advice of the National Travel Health Network and Centre and to discuss their travel plans with their healthcare provider, particularly if they are pregnant or planning to become pregnant.

British Nationals Abroad: Zika Virus

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his Department's most recent advice is for British citizens seeking to holiday abroad on the risk of illness from the Zika virus; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice advises British nationals who are planning to travel to areas with confirmed cases of locally transmitted Zika virus to follow the advice of the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC). They should also discuss their travel plans with their healthcare provider, particularly if they are pregnant or planning to become pregnant. The current advice issued by NaTHNaC is that pregnant women should postpone non-essential travel to areas with current active Zika virus transmission until after pregnancy.

Commonwealth: Honours

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2016 to Questions 22933, 22934 and 22935, which individual or organisation sets the rules and regulations on the recognition of honours of Commonwealth Realms and foreign states; who is responsible for the preparation and issue of his Department's rules governing the acceptance and wearing of foreign orders, decorations and medals by citizens of the UK and her overseas territories; and if he plans to update his Department's rules to include awards granted by Commonwealth states where the Sovereign is Head of State.

James Duddridge: The Committee on Honours, Decorations and Medals advises Her Majesty The Queen on all matters relating to honours and awards and sets the “rules” governing the acceptance and wearing of Foreign Orders, Decorations and Medals by Citizens of the United Kingdom and Her Overseas Territories. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office administers these rules. There are plans to propose updates to these rules, to the Committee on Honours, Decorations and Medals, so as to include reference to the conventions governing awards granted by Commonwealth realms. There are no plans, however, to change the conventions governing awards granted by Commonwealth realms.

British Overseas Territories: Self-determination of States

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to support the principle of self-determination and the right of the British Overseas Territories to remain self-governing dependent territories as long as their inhabitants wish to remain so; and if he will make a statement.

James Duddridge: Support for the principle of self-determination is at the heart of the UK’s relationship with its Overseas Territories. It is a modern relationship based on partnership, shared values and the right of the people of each Territory to choose to remain British.The Government continues actively to support the rights of the peoples of the Territories to self-determination: diplomatically (for example when UK sovereignty is challenged at the UN) and in terms of our security guarantees. The Strategic Defence and Security Review published last year emphasised that the Government’s most important duty is the defence of the UK and the Overseas Territories.

Pakistan: Christianity

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has held with his Pakistan counterparts about attacks on Christians in Lahore; and what steps he is taking to press for greater protection of Christians in Pakistan.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I reiterate the condemnation of the appaling attack in Lahore on Easter Sunday. My thoughts are with the Government and people of Pakistan, including the families and friends of the victims, and those recovering from injuries. The explosion was a sad reminder of the terrorist threat confronting individuals regardless of age, gender, religious belief or ethnicity.The UK continues to stand with Pakistan in tackling the shared threat from terrorism and extremism. We are partnering Pakistan to increase its capacity to confront the terrorist threat, reform the judiciary so those responsible for attacks are held to account and address the root causes of extremism and terrorism.The Government deplores violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief. We will continue to speak up for religious minorities wherever their rights are denied. The Government regularly raises its concerns about religious minorities with the Government of Pakistan and urge it to honour its international human rights commitments.

Taiwan: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he, his Ministers or his officials have had with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank on Taiwan's intention to join that bank; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire: Neither I, other Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers, nor my officials have discussed Taiwan’s intention to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank with representatives of that Bank.

Syria: Peace Negotiations

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many and what proportion of Syrian opposition groups which the Joint Intelligence Committee has identified as non-extremist are currently represented in the UN-led peace negotiations in Geneva.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: There are currently four representatives of Armed Opposition Groups in the seventeen member negotiating team of the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee in Geneva, including Mohammed Alloush (representing one of the armed groups), who is the Chief Negotiator.

Syria: World Heritage Sites

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the extent of damage to historical artifacts by ISIS/Daesh in Palmyra.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We have no diplomatic presence in Syria and so are unable to provide an accurate assessment of the damage to Palmyra ourselves.

Saudi Arabia: Arms Trade

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to monitor the use of military equipment provided by the UK to Saudi Arabia.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. All applications for strategic export control licences for military and dual-use goods are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria (the Criteria), in a manner consistent with the UK’s international obligations. This assessment takes account of all relevant factors at the time of the application, including how the equipment will be used by the end-user. A licence will not be issued for export of items to any country, including Saudi Arabia, if to do so would be inconsistent with any mandatory provision of the Criteria, including where we assess there is a clear risk that the items might be used in the commission of a serious violation of IHL. The Government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the Criteria.The British Government monitors the situation in Yemen closely, including reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The Ministry of Defence continues to monitor incidents of alleged IHL violations, using available information, which in turn informs our overall assessment of Saudi Arabia’s IHL compliance in Yemen. We consider a range of information from government sources, foreign governments, the media and international non-governmental organisations. We have provided training and advice to Saudi Arabia to support continued compliance with IHL and minimise civilian casualties.

United Nations: Public Appointments

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will issue a response to EDM 1338, Selection of United Nations Secretary General.

James Duddridge: We welcome the work of the 1 for 7 Billion campaign. Last week’s informal hearings by the UN General Assembly with currently declared UN Secretary-General candidates were a key part of our campaign to reform the selection process. We want greater transparency, a structured process and a gender diverse field. The General Assembly and the Security Council have committed to providing opportunities for engagement and dialogue between candidates and member states and last week’s hearings were the first step. We will encourage further direct engagement throughout the process.Our efforts on the process are designed to ensure we get the best person for the job. Any successful candidate needs integrity, a proven track record, first class communication skills, suitable and relevant experience and unimpeachable character. They should be committed to transparency and accountability, have strong leadership skills, a bold vision for an activist UN at the heart of the rules-based system, and be committed to cost-effective management and reform.

Diplomatic Immunity

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what procedures his Department puts in place when a person benefitting from diplomatic immunity commits a crime in the UK.

James Duddridge: In accordance with Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office expects all foreign diplomats and members of their families in the UK to abide by UK laws at all times. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office treats all allegations of criminal offences committed by those with diplomatic immunity seriously. We work closely with diplomatic missions in the UK and the police or other law enforcement agencies to ensure an appropriate response to all allegations. If an allegation requires further investigation, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will request a waiver of the diplomat’s immunity for the purpose of investigation by the police from the diplomatic mission concerned. Failure to provide a waiver may result in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office demanding the withdrawal of the diplomat.Further answers to recent questions about alleged criminal conduct by foreign diplomats based in the UK and waivers of immunity can be found in the Official Report (24113, 26534 and 26535).

Syria: Armed Conflict

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what investigative process the Government has to investigate alleged international humanitarian law violations involving the use of British equipment in the Syrian conflict.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK does not provide lethal assistance to any party in Syria. We have provided life-saving equipment, including communications, medical and logistics equipment, and equipment to protect against chemical weapons attacks to the moderate Syrian opposition.The Government is satisfied that extant licences for Syria are compliant with the Consolidated EU and National Export Licensing Criteria and EU restrictions on the provision of goods to Syria. A licence will not be issued, for any country, if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the mandatory Criteria. This includes where we assess there is a clear risk that it might be used in the commission of a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law, taking account of all relevant factors at the time of the application.

Northern Ireland Office

Organised Crime: Ireland

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with the Irish government on cross-border efforts to stop organised crime.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: In accordance with the Fresh Start Agreement, in December I attended a trilateral cross-border ministerial meeting with the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government. We agreed new measures to enhance law enforcement cooperation on organised crime and a Joint Agency Taskforce has been established.

Economic Growth: Northern Ireland

Edward Argar: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on economic development in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: The Government’s long-term economic plan is delivering for Northern Ireland. The economy there is growing.There are 51,000 more people in work today than there were in 2010. The claimant count is down by 40% since its peak in February 2013.

Economic Situation: Northern Ireland

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps the Government is taking to strengthen the Northern Ireland economy.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: The Government’s long-term economic plan is strengthening the Northern Ireland economy. Last year legislation was passed to allow the devolution of corporation tax rate-setting powers. This could bring benefits for an estimated 34,000 companies of all sizes in Northern Ireland.

Economic Situation: Northern Ireland

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps the Government is taking to strengthen the Northern Ireland economy.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: The Government’s long-term economic plan is strengthening the Northern Ireland economy. Last year legislation was passed to allow the devolution of corporation tax rate-setting powers. This could bring benefits for an estimated 34,000 companies of all sizes in Northern Ireland.

Organised Crime: Ireland

Mr Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with the Irish government on cross-border efforts to stop organised crime.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: In accordance with the Fresh Start Agreement, in December I attended a trilateral cross-border ministerial meeting with the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government. We agreed new measures to enhance law enforcement cooperation on organised crime and a Joint Agency Taskforce has been established.

Organised Crime: Northern Ireland

Seema Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps the Government is taking to tackle organised crime in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: The Fresh Start Agreement created a Joint Agency Task Force to identify strategic priorities and co-ordinate joint operations against those involved in cross-border organised crime. Tackling organised crime in Northern Ireland is primarily a matter for the devolved Department of Justice, under the auspices of the Organised Crime Task Force.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Lighting: Safety

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all users of electromagnetic radiation emitting devices comply fully with IEC/EN62471 regarding Photobiological Safety of Lamps and Lamp Systems.

Anna Soubry: Electrical equipment, including electromagnetic radiation emitting devices, sold in the UK must be safe to comply with the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994. European harmonised standards, including EN62471:2008, are not mandatory, but offer one route to meeting the requirements of the legislation. Enforcement of the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations is undertaken by Local Authority Trading Standards for consumer products, and the Health and Safety Executive for commercial and industrial products. Where use of electro-magnetic radiation within the optical region of the spectrum could present a hazard in the workplace, employers must comply with the Control of Artificial Optical Radiation Regulations, which are enforced by the Health and Safety Executive.

Students: Grants

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on students living or studying in areas where household income is below the national average of the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 8 July 2015 that maintenance grants will be discontinued from 2016-17.

Joseph Johnson: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 19 October 2015.The correct answer should have been:

From 2016/17 all new eligible students living or studying in areas where household income is below the national average and who would otherwise have received a grant will qualify for an increased loan for living costs. The total living costs support available under the new student support arrangements for eligible students on the lowest incomes is increasing by 10.3% in 2016/17. be eligible for a maintenance loan, that increases the total maintenance support available to them by 10.3%.

Joseph Johnson: From 2016/17 all new eligible students living or studying in areas where household income is below the national average and who would otherwise have received a grant will qualify for an increased loan for living costs. The total living costs support available under the new student support arrangements for eligible students on the lowest incomes is increasing by 10.3% in 2016/17. be eligible for a maintenance loan, that increases the total maintenance support available to them by 10.3%.

Apprentices

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the career progression of people aged 16 to 24 who have completed an apprenticeship since 2010.

Nick Boles: The Department assesses the impact of apprenticeships on career progression in a number of ways including measuring longer term wage and employment outcomes, short term employment outcomes and self-reported impacts. We also measure progression of advanced apprentices to higher education. Where possible the data are broken down by age band. Links to the relevant reports are provided below. Wage returns and employment outcomes for Further Education, including apprenticeships are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-education-comparing-labour-market-economic-benefits-from-qualifications-gained Experimental data showing the learning and employment outcomes of learners completing further education training between 2010 and 2013 is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-further-education-outcome-based-success-measures-experimental-data-2010-to-2013 Short term employment outcomes and self-reported impacts are published in the Evaluation of apprenticeships: learner survey which is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeships-evaluation-learner-survey-2014 Progression of advanced apprentices to higher education broken down by year and age band is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/progression-of-apprentices-to-higher-education-second-cohort

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Families

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what training his Department has provided to staff on the family test; what other steps he has taken to raise awareness of the family test among staff of his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The Family Test was announced by my Rt. hon Friend the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014.The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills welcomed the introduction of the Family Test and has taken steps to embed it by building it into the Department’s Public Sector Equality Duty commitments. This has included training officials on applying the test, disseminating learning materials and best practice.The Family Test is an integral part of the policy making process and is applied in a proportionate way in the development of all new policy in line with the Family Test guidance, published by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Students: Disability

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what (a) statutory and (b) other guidance is available to higher education institutions on their duties under the Equality Act 2010 towards disabled students.

Joseph Johnson: Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have clear legal responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to support their students, including those with disabilities. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has produced a range of guidance for institutions on their obligations under the Equality Act 2010, including technical guidance setting out the detail of the law. Guidance is also produced by the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU), a higher education sector body that supports equality and diversity for staff and students across the UK, including for disabled staff and students on managing “reasonable adjustments”. The ECU also published a report on the implications for institutions of the key issues contained in the Equality Act 2010.

Vacancies: Skilled Workers

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent consideration he has given to the findings of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills on the issue of skills shortage vacancies; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles: We are investing in apprenticeships to meet identified skill needs across all sectors. We are committed to reaching 3 million apprenticeship starts in England by 2020 and will ensure they deliver the skills employers and the economy need for growth. We have also announced plans for ground-breaking reforms to technical and professional education, working in direct partnership with employers to ensure the new system provides the skills most needed for the 21st century. Together with creating 5 National Colleges, supporting a new network of Institutes of Technology and rolling out more degree and higher level apprenticeships, we are helping to equip people with the higher and technical level skills that are in demand.Our aim is for all local areas to take a leading role in skills provision to ensure it is responsive to local economic priorities and devolution deals with areas around the country are a big step towards this ambition so that they can secure the training and skills that local employers need.

Sunday Trading

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department has undertaken impact assessments for different regions of the UK on developing Sunday trading regulations; and what assessment his Department has made of any particular effects of such devolving of regulations on rural and semi-rural areas.

Anna Soubry: My Department has carried out an assessment of the impacts of devolving the power to extend Sunday trading hours.

Sunday Trading: Scotland

Mr David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of Sunday trading devolution on the premium pay of shopworkers.

Nick Boles: In view of the will of the House of Commons, we are no longer proposing to give local authorities the ability to extend the Sunday trading hours of large shops.

Minimum Wage

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many businesses have been (a) charged with and (b) successfully prosecuted for non-payment of the minimum wage in each year from the minimum wage coming into force up to 2010.

Nick Boles: Prosecution is reserved for the most serious cases. In most cases the Government applies civil sanctions, of up to £20,000 per worker, which are appropriate in the great majority of cases, and ensure a worker is paid back the arrears they are owed as quickly as possible. There is no guarantee that prosecution will result in arrears being paid back to the workers.With the agreement of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, HMRC started considering prosecution for minimum wage offences from May 2006. The first prosecution for an offence under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 took place in 2007. Table 1 sets out the number of NMW prosecutions in each year since this date, all of which were successful.Table 1: Successful NMW prosecutions YearNumber of NMW prosecutions2006020072200842009120101

Research: Capital Investment

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department has invested in (a) large facilities and (b) other (i) national and (ii) international capital projects managed by the Research Councils in each of the last ten years.

Joseph Johnson: This Government a record £6.9 billion in new equipment, new laboratories and new research institutes across the UK from 2015/16 to 2020/21.Details of investments in large facilities and national and international capital projects by the Research Councils is held by the Councils themselves, in line with the delivery responsibilities placed on the Partner Organisations that BIS funds. We do not hold this level of information for the period you request centrally, however, aggregate capital expenditure for each of the seven Research Councils is available through their individual delivery plans, which are published and available online.

Apprentices: Minimum Wage

Phil Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to paragraph 2.48 of the National Minimum Wage Low Pay Commission Report Spring 2016, Cm 9207, what assessment he has made of the potential incidence of employers hiring apprentices to avoid paying the new higher minimum wage.

Nick Boles: No assessment has been made of the potential incidence of employers hiring more apprentices to avoid paying the national minimum wage.The current minimum wage rate for an apprentice is £3.30 per hour. This applies to apprentices who are aged under 19 or those in the first year of their Apprenticeship. Apprentices aged 19 or above and in the second year of their apprenticeship must be paid at least the minimum wage rate that relates to their age. This means an apprentice aged 25 or above in the second year must be paid at least the National Living Wage.

Energy: Industry

Tom Pursglove: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much compensation has been paid to (a) all energy intensive industries, (b) the steel industry and (c) the aluminium industry under the energy intensive compensation scheme since 25 November 2015.

Anna Soubry: Across all compensation schemes (EU ETS, CPS, RO & FiT) to date, we have paid out over £189m in compensation.Of this, the steel sector has been paid over £80m.Since 25 Nov 2015, the aluminium sector has been paid over £464,000.Additionally, we are processing 2016 EU ETS/CPS claims, as well as RO/FIT compensation applications, so the amounts will increase significantly in coming months.

Productivity

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to increase productivity to levels recorded in 2008.

Anna Soubry: Output per worker was approximately 2.2% higher in 2015 compared to 2008, according to the Office for National Statistics. On an output per hour basis, productivity was 1.7% higher in 2015 compared to 2008.Increasing productivity growth remains one of the key economic challenges for this Parliament. The government’s ‘Fixing the Foundations’ productivity plan sets out the ambitious vision and pro-productivity agenda that the government is working on to meet the productivity challenge that most advanced economies face.The productivity plan can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fixing-the-foundations-creating-a-more-prosperous-nationAs the plan notes, every part of government is contributing to this ambition; and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is working across Whitehall to ensure that the reforms set out in the plan are delivered with urgency and pace.

Living Wage: Southampton

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of how many people in Southampton will benefit from the introduction of the national living wage.

Nick Boles: The Government published its Impact Assessment with a full assessment of the National Living Wage policy on 7 December 2015.300,000 workers in the South East will directly benefit from the National Living Wage by 2020. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has made no detailed assessment of the benefits of the National Living Wage at local authority level.

UK Trade and Investment: Europe

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what UK Trade and Investment's annual budget is for work in Europe.

Anna Soubry: It is not possible fully to disaggregate UK Trade and Investment’s budget for all its work in each overseas market. The overall budget will be made up of costs incurred in country and funds that are not market specific.

UK Shared Business Services: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil servants were employed at each location by UK Shared Business Service Ltd in the last year for which figures are available.

Joseph Johnson: Holding answer received on 18 April 2016



UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UK SBS) employees are public servants and not civil servants. UK SBS operates from three locations and the number of people employed at each location is: Swindon 472Newport 45Billingham 27 In addition, 12 employees work remotely.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of (a) members of the Senior Civil Service and (b) all officials of his Department will be based at head office on conclusion of BIS2020.

Joseph Johnson: The plans for BIS2020 are still being developed. We do not currently have information on which posts will be at head office in 2020.

Artificial Intelligence

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to support research into and development of machine learning.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills supports the research and development of machine learning through the Research Councils, for example the current Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council portfolio contains nearly 150 research and training grants involving aspects of artificial intelligence.The Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Hartree Centre uses high performance computing combined with big data analytics, cognitive computing and visualisation techniques to collaborate with industry and research partners. The latest government investment of £113 million at Hartree in a cognitive and data centric computing centre (announced in the 2014 Autumn Statement) has attracted inward investment from IBM and other hi-tech industry exceeding £200 million.Research Councils also support existing machine learning applications, for example the Medical Research Council support programmes which involve the use of machine learning tools for image analysis and in analysing and predicting risk of Serious Adverse Events for hospital patients.The Arts and Humanities Research Council also support aspects of research and development on machine learning relating to its importance within the rapidly emerging field of the digital humanities and issues relating to ethical, philosophical, legal and historical perspectives of machine learning and human-computer interactions.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Buildings

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the level of his Department's budget for estates after completion of the BIS 2020 change programme.

Joseph Johnson: Holding answer received on 19 April 2016



Detailed plans are being developed across the BIS estate. An initial estimate is that some £40M savings in office estate could be achieved. This depends on a range of other factors.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Buildings

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what efficiency savings his Department expects to make from the closure of its Sheffield office at St Paul's Place.

Joseph Johnson: Holding answer received on 19 April 2016



The proposed closure of the Sheffield office is one part of a larger programme to deliver a new business model and reduce operating spending by £350m by 2020. Non-cashable efficiency savings would be realised through closer working, more collaborative and flexible teams. Cashable savings will be realised from reduced travel, rents and overnight accommodation. Further cashable savings would be achieved through reduction in headcount, but such reductions have yet to be decided pending the conclusion of the consultation.

UK Trade with EU: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the value of exports from the West Midlands to other EU countries was in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 19 April 2016



   Data on the value of exports of goods from the West Midlands to EU countries are available from the Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs’ Regional Trade Statistics database. Data on the value of exports of services from the West Midlands to EU countries are not available.

Gratuities: Public Consultation

Will Quince: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2016 to Question 30709, when he expects his Department's response to the call for evidence on tips, gratuities, service and cover charges to be published.

Nick Boles: The Government is analysing the responses to the Call for Evidence on tips, gratuities, service and cover charges, with a view to announcing its next steps shortly.

Disabled Students' Allowances

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the average time it will take to process an application for temporary disabled students' allowance after changes to that allowance; and whose responsibility it will be to assist applicants with such applications.

Joseph Johnson: We are working with higher education institutions to encourage the speedy resolution of disputes between a student and their institution as to whether support should be provided as a reasonable adjustment. The Student Loans Company will consider providing interim support in the form of Disabled Students’ Allowances through a new Exceptional Case Process where a resolution is not achieved prior to the student starting their course. This will ensure eligible disabled students are not left without support during this period.

Low Pay

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to paragraph 2.20 of the National Audit Office report, Adult Social Care in England: Overview, published in March 2014, what estimate HM Revenue and Customs has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of workers in (i) the adult social care sector and (ii) each other economic sector who were paid below the level of the national minimum wage.

Nick Boles: Official estimates of jobs paid below the National Minimum Wage (NMW) derive from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). Table 1.7 (page 18) of the Low Pay Commission National Minimum Wage Spring 2016 Report shows the proportion of jobs held by those aged 21 and over paid below the minimum wage by sector using ASHE - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-minimum-wage-low-pay-commission-report-2015ASHE estimates are not a direct measure of non-compliance with the NMW legislation as it includes some jobs paid below the NMW for legitimate reasons (e.g. where employees receive free accommodation) and it may not account for all travel and sleeping time.The Government has responded by taking action to improve compliance with the National Minimum Wage in the social care sector and is working closely with the Department of Health and HMRC, as well as the relevant sector bodies. We will also continue to undertake targeted enforcement in this sector to ensure workers are paid what they are legally owed.Any worker who is concerned that they have not received what they are entitled to should call the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100 for confidential advice. HMRC follow up every complaint.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Cheshire

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department's non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.

Joseph Johnson: Historical information that is readily available suggests that the Department and its partner organisations had no jobs based within the East Cheshire Local Authority in 2010 or since.

Apprentices: Taxation

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what process he is following to develop the Apprenticeship Levy Digital Voucher.

Nick Boles: The digital apprenticeship service is being built by the Skills Funding Agency in accordance with Cabinet Office best practice. To ensure that the service is focused on employer and training provider needs we are performing extensive user research. The service will build on insights gathered from over 2000 employers and around 400 training providers. To make sure that the service is ready for the levy in April 2017, we plan to launch a substantial pilot with employers and providers later this year. Further details on the apprenticeship levy and the digital apprenticeship service will be available in the guide for employers which will be published shortly on gov.uk.

Horticulture: Training

Rebecca Pow: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to support (a) horticultural skills and (b) the development of the workforce in horticulture.

Nick Boles: Apprenticeships are our priority for equipping people with the skills this country needs. Apprenticeship starts on the horticulture framework increased by almost 50% between 2009/10 and 2014/15 and there are 2 new trailblazer standards approved and 2 in development.We are also reforming post-16 provision to ensure that it meets the needs of local labour markets and learners. We have asked Landex, the organisation which represents 36 FE colleges and universities offering land-based programmes and supports agri-food, land and animal science education and training, to undertake a review of post-16 land based provision in England.This will draw on data and analysis of all land based provision through specialist and general further education colleges, and other providers, and will feed into local steering group discussions and deliberations and into the wider review process.Their review will highlight national as well as local provision which serves particular sectors across the land based industries. It will take account of for example, the Agri-food industry and Agri-Tech strategy to identify skills needs, and potential gaps in provision, including for higher level skills.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Buildings

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how the final decision on proposals to centralise all policy functions to one headquarters in London and close the Sheffield office at St Paul's Place will be made once the consultation on those proposals has finished.

Joseph Johnson: The final decisions on whether to centralise all policy functions a single headquarters, and to close the Sheffield office at St Paul's Place, will be made by the department’s Executive Board following the end of consultation with staff and Trade Unions in May.

UK Space Agency

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil servants were employed in each location at the UK Space Agency in the last year for which figures are available.

Joseph Johnson: The number of civil servants employed by the UK Space Agency is shown in the attached table and represents the position as at 31 December 2015. The Department does not hold centrally any location data for its agencies prior to this date. 



Attachment to 34239
(Excel SpreadSheet, 14.33 KB)

Research Councils

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil servants were employed at each location by the Research Council in the last year for which figures are available.

Joseph Johnson: The Research Councils do not employ any civil servants at any of their locations.All people working in Research Councils are public servants and the numbers by location are shown on the attached table and represents the position as at 31 December 2015. 



Attachment to 34240
(Excel SpreadSheet, 12.67 KB)

National Measurement and Regulation Office

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil servants were employed at each location by the National Measurement and Regulation Office in the last year for which figures are available.

Joseph Johnson: The number of civil servants employed by the National Measurement and Regulation Office is shown in the attached table and represents the position as at 31 December 2015. The Department does not hold centrally any location data for its agencies prior to this date.



Attachment to 34241
(Excel SpreadSheet, 14.33 KB)

Department for International Development

EU Aid

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, who the Government's representative was at the MaMa-COHAFA (Council Working Party on Humanitarian Aid and Food Aid) meeting in Brussels on 11 April 2016.

Mr David Lidington: The UK was represented by officials from the Department for International Development and the UK Representation to the EU.

World Humanitarian Summit

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether a decision has been reached on the composition of the UK delegation to the World Humanitarian Summit in May.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The final decision on who will be in the delegation will be taken nearer the time.

Overseas Aid: Culture

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department spent on cultural and arts projects overseas in 2014.

Mr Desmond Swayne: During 2014, DFID did not disburse Official Development Assistance to any country for cultural and arts projects.

Developing Countries: Education

Tom Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to widen access to education in developing countries.

Mr Nick Hurd: Improving access to education and the quality of learning for all children – especially those who are most disadvantaged - is a priority for the Department. The UK supported 11 million children in school between 2010 and 2015. We have again committed to support 11 million children in the poorest countries gain a decent education by 2020. Having children in school and learning enhances economic growth and contributes to better governance, peace and democracy.

Developing Countries: Financial Services

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has provided support to developing countries to formulate regulations on mobile financial services.

Mr Nick Hurd: Work to support formulation and improvements to regulations on mobile financial services is a key part of DFID’s portfolio of financial sector programmes around mobile financial services across Africa and Asia. The UK is also an active advocate at the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), including as co-chair of the key subgroup on regulation and standard-setting bodies.

Developing Countries: Financial Services

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has provided support to developing countries to encourage financial inclusion.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID has made an important contribution to date in developing robust, efficient and inclusive financial markets. Between 2010-2015, UK Aid achievements included providing 68.9 million people, including 35.9 million women, with access to financial services.

Developing Countries: Financial Services

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of mobile financial services on levels of extreme poverty in developing countries.

Mr Nick Hurd: Mobile financial services have a key role to play in connecting people to basic services, supporting economic empowerment and building resilience of individuals and families. DFID operates a number of financial inclusion programmes, many of which include elements to promote the development of mobile financial services, and all are required to undertake a formal Annual Review process to measure progress towards their expected impact. Our most significant programme in this area to date has been the technology programme for branchless banking, which at completion had provided access to financial services for just over 59m people globally.

Ethiopia: Droughts

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will issue a response to Early Day Motion 1339, Drought in Ethiopia.

Mr Nick Hurd: The UK Government is extremely concerned about the impact of the current drought in Ethiopia, and is following the situation closely. We are working with the UN system, the EC and other donors to help the Ethiopian Government manage the current crisis. The UK Government has provided one of the earliest and largest commitments of support, providing £113 million in assistance to food security and other needs since July 2015.

Department for Education

Curriculum

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ending the national curriculum at the age of 14.

Nick Gibb: The Government believes that the majority of pupils should study a core academic curriculum up to the age of 16. The core academic curriculum refers to the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). The Government’s ambition is for 90% of pupils to enter the EBacc subjects at GCSE. The national curriculum serves an important role in setting out the sort of knowledge-based, ambitious, academically rigorous education which every child should experience. It enables pupils to develop the knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes necessary for their self-fulfilment and development as active and responsible citizens.

Schools

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools in which parliamentary constituencies she has visited since July 2014; and when she visited each such school.

Nick Gibb: My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Education has visited the following schools since July 2014. The list excludes political visits and those made as a constituency MP. NAMECONSTITUENCYDATEGlenthorne High SchoolSutton and CheamSeptember 2014Bacon's CollegeBermondsey and Old SouthwarkSeptember 2014Walter Evans C of E Aided Primary SchoolDerby NorthSeptember 2014Hope Community SchoolOld Bexley and SidcupSeptember 2014King's Maths Free SchoolVauxhallSeptember 2014Chaucer Junior SchoolIlkeston and ErewashOctober 2014Fernwood SchoolNottingham SouthOctober 2014Highlands SchoolEnfield NorthOctober 2014Surbiton High SchoolKingston and SurbitonNovember 2014St Matthew's CE Infant SchoolEsher and WaltonNovember 2014Falcons SchoolLeicester EastNovember 2014William Edwards SchoolThurrockNovember 2014George Elliot SchoolNuneatonNovember 2014Werneth SchoolHazel GroveDecember 2014Nevill Road Infant SchoolCheadleDecember 2014Outwood Grange AcademyMorley and OutwoodDecember 2014Harris Primary Academy Crystal PalaceCroydon NorthDecember 2014St Margaret's C of E Primary SchoolPudseyDecember 2014Ilkley Grammar SchoolKeighleyDecember 2014Elton High SchoolBury NorthDecember 2014Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar SchoolRossendale and DarwenDecember 2014King's Oak AcademyKingswoodJanuary 2015Watermore Primary SchoolThornbury and YateJanuary 2015Bath Studio SchoolBathJanuary 2015Durand AcademyVauxhallJanuary 2015New College Nottingham Basford HallNottingham NorthJanuary 2015Netherthorpe SchoolNorth East DerbyshireJanuary 2015Priory City of Lincoln AcademyLincolnJanuary 2015ARK Conway Primary AcademyHammersmithJanuary 2015Brentford School for GirlsBrentford and IsleworthJanuary 2015Corby Technical SchoolCorbyJanuary 2015Quest AcademyCroydon CentralFebruary 2015Rivers Primary AcademyWalsall NorthFebruary 2015Trinity Church of England/Methodist Primary SchoolChorleyFebruary 2015Whitefield Infant and Nursery SchoolPendleFebruary 2015Clayton Hall Business and Language CollegeNewcastle Under LymeFebruary 2015Ark Little Ridge Primary SchoolHastings and RyeFebruary 2015The Eastbourne AcademyEastbourneFebruary 2015Yarm Primary SchoolStockton SouthFebruary 2015Priestmead Primary SchoolHarrow EastMarch 2015The Green School for GirlsBrentford and IsleworthMarch 2015Fulham Boys SchoolHammersmithMarch 2015Padstow SchoolNorth CornwallMarch 2015Truro and Penwith CollegeTruro and FalmouthMarch 2015Helston Community CollegeSt IvesMarch 2015Stoke Damerel Community CollegePlymouth and Sutton DevonportMarch 2015Chessington Community CollegeKingston and SurbitonMarch 2015St Eugene de Mazenod RC Primary SchoolHampstead and KilburnMarch 2015Wolverhampton Girls’ High SchoolWolverhampton South WestMarch 2015School 21West HamJune 2015Passmores AcademyHarlowJune 2015Mulberry School for GirlsPoplar and LimehouseJune 2015King Solomon AcademyWestminster NorthJune 2015Caludon Castle SchoolCoventry North EastJune 2015Brockington CollegeSouth LeicestershireJune 2015Thomas Estley Community CollegeSouth LeicestershireJune 2015Swiss Cottage School – Development and Research CentreHampstead and KilburnJuly 2015Upton Cross Primary SchoolWest HamJuly 2015Alperton Community SchoolBrent NorthJuly 2015Ark Academy - WembleyBrent NorthJuly 2015Corby Technical SchoolCorbySeptember 2015Goldbeaters Primary SchoolHendonSeptember 2015Lilian Baylis Technology SchoolVauxhallSeptember 2015Yavneh CollegeHertsmereSeptember 2015Redhill School and Specialist Language CollegeStourbridgeSeptember 2015King Edward VI Form CollegeStourbridgeSeptember 2015Grace Academy SolihullSolihullSeptember 2015Thringstone Primary SchoolNorth West LeicestershireSeptember 2015Sir John Moore CoE Primary SchoolNorth West LeicestershireSeptember 2015Charles Dickens Primary SchoolBermondsey and Old SouthwarkSeptember 2015New College WorcesterWorcesterNovember 2015The Christopher Whitehead Language SchoolWorcesterNovember 2015John Taylor High SchoolLichfieldNovember 2015Brighton CollegeBrighton, KemptownNovember 2015University of Birmingham SchoolBirmingham, NorthfieldDecember 2015Nottingham University Academy of Science and TechnologyNottingham SouthDecember 2015Harris Primary Academy Philip LaneTottenhamDecember 2015Waldegrave SchoolTwickenhamDecember 2015Trinity SchoolCarlisleJanuary 2016Richard Rose Central AcademyCarlisleJanuary 2016Newman Catholic SchoolCarlisleJanuary 2016Fashion Retail AcademyCities of London and WestminsterJanuary 2016Bethnal Green AcademyBethnal Green and BowJanuary 2016Floreat School WandsworthTootingJanuary 2016The Westgate SchoolWinchesterJanuary 2016NAS Thames ValleyReading WestJanuary 2016The Avenue SchoolReading WestJanuary 2016Reading UTCReading EastJanuary 2016Comberton Village CollegeSouth CambridgeshireFebruary 2016Howard of Effingham SchoolMole ValleyFebruary 2016The Elizabethan AcademyBassetlawFebruary 2016The Crossley Heath SchoolHalifaxFebruary 2016The Chalet SchoolSouth SwindonMarch 2016Lydiard Park AcademySouth SwindonMarch 2016King’s College School WimbledonWimbledonMarch 2016King’s Maths SchoolVauxhallMarch 2016

Teachers: Qualifications

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many unqualified teachers have taught in classrooms in each of the last three years.

Nick Gibb: In November 2014, the latest information available, there were 20,300 full-time equivalent teachers that did not have qualified teacher status working in state-funded schools in England. There were also 16,600 in 2013 and 16,000 in 2012. This information is available in Table 1 of the main tables, available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014Unqualified teachers recorded in the School Workforce Census include trainee teachers on the Teach First programme, as well as trainees on employment-based training routes that lead to qualified status, overseas trained teachers in their first four years of employment in England, and instructors who have special qualifications and experience.Our recent White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, announced that we intend to replace the current arrangements for teacher qualification with a new, stronger accreditation that will be based on clear evidence of effective teaching practice. The new system will allow schools to employ as teachers individuals with appropriate qualifications and experience, such as an outstanding musician or coder, and put them on a pathway to full accreditation, recognising their proficiency in the classroom.

Academies: Teachers

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on whether academies will be able to employ unqualified teachers when all schools become academies.

Edward Timpson: Since August 2012, the funding agreements for all new academies has given the academy trust the freedom to employ anyone it believes is suitably qualified or is otherwise eligible to plan and prepare lessons and courses for pupils, teach pupils, and assess and report on pupils’ development, progress and attainment. Academies set up prior to this date can apply to the Education Funding Agency to have their funding agreement amended.As set out in our White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, we will replace Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) with a stronger, more challenging accreditation based on a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom, as judged by great schools. This new accreditation will raise the quality and status of the teaching profession, better recognising advanced subject knowledge and pedagogy that is rooted in up-to-date evidence, ensuring the highest quality of teaching is paramount to the success of each school. Headteachers know this, which is why we trust them to employ staff that they believe to be best qualified for the job – including whether to make this accreditation a mandatory requirement or not, considering how to weigh it against other qualifications and experience the potential teacher may bring.

Ministry of Justice

Probation

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what effect the withdrawal of service providers from the Transforming Rehabilitation Programme has had on the projected numbers of prisoners able to take part in that programme.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total cost to the public purse is of restarting the tendering process for the Transforming Rehabilitation Programme; and what recent steps he has taken to improve the subcontracting process of charities selected as preferred tenders.

Andrew Selous: No Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) has withdrawn from the Transforming Rehabilitation Programme. As part of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, CRCs are required to deliver the services set out in their contract. CRCs can decide to contract with other organisations to deliver some of those services. If these sub-contractors decide to no longer provide services, the CRC will decide whether to re-tender or provide the service themselves. This should not affect the number of offenders able to access the services. We are not restarting the tendering process for probation providers. CRCs are in the process of finalising their supply chains. Contract Management Teams closely monitor arrangements to ensure consistency of service provision and that prime and sub-contractors comply with the terms of an Industry Standard Partnering Agreement set out in the original tender documents.

Equal Pay: Tribunals

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March to Question 31122, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the (a) decrease in the number of women and (b) increase in the number of men bringing equal pay tribunal cases against their employers.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The apparent increase in the number of complaints to the Employment Tribunals of equal pay made by men in 2015 was principally due to two large multiple claims issued during the year, involving mainly male claimants. Multiple claims are inherently more variable than single claims and comparisons which include multiple claims can be misleading about the trends in Tribunal caseloads. We are undertaking a review of the impact of the introduction of fees in the Employment Tribunals. This will include an assessment of the impact of fees on the volumes of Employment Tribunal claims including in relation to gender and other protected characteristics.

Sexual Offences: Greater Manchester

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offences with code (a) 17B, (b) 19D, (c) 19E, (d) 19H, (e) 20B, (f) 21, (g) 22B, (h) 74, and (i) 88A under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 were brought to trial in Greater Manchester in each year since 2008; how many such trials resulted in convictions under each category; and what the conviction rate was for such offences in Greater Manchester in that period.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The number of defendants tried at and found guilty at Crown Courts in Greater Manchester, from 2008 to 2014, for selected sexual offences (with conviction ratio in this area) can be viewed in the attached table.



Defendants found guilty of sexual offences 2008-14
(Excel SpreadSheet, 34 KB)

Office of the Public Guardian

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will hold a public consultation on the level of fees charged by the Office of the Public Guardian.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Annual Report and Accounts of the Office of the Public Guardian 2014-15, page 22, for what reasons was the review of the Office's fee structure put on hold at ministerial level.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Annual Report and Accounts of the Office of the Public Guardian 2014-15, page 22, what estimate he has made of the average cost to a user of that Office of the over-recovery of costs.

Caroline Dinenage: Work to review the Office of the Public Guardian’s (OPG) fee structure is ongoing. Depending on the outcome of that work, a consultation will be published in due course if required. No estimate has been made of the average cost to a user of OPG services of the over recovery of costs.

Juries

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the (a) gender, (b) age and (c) ethnicity of people who have served on juries.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service does not collect the information requested.

Prime Minister

Tax Havens

Paul Flynn: To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to his Oral Statement of 11 April 2016, Official Report, column 26, on the Panama Papers, from which departmental budgets the Government plans to draw the resources to support the new cross-agency taskforce to analyse the information that has been made available in those papers.

Mr David Cameron: This is new money provided by the Treasury. It will be spent on bringing together some of the most sophisticated technology, experts and resources to tackle money laundering, tax evasion and wider forms of financial crime anywhere in the world.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Broadband: Competition

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government plans to take to improve transparency to aid consumer choice on broadband providers.

Mr Edward Vaizey: As well as clear information about broadband speeds, consumers also need to understand costs to exercise effective choice. We expect the Advertising Standards Authority, following research it published in January, to produce new standards to make advertised broadband prices clearer by the end of May.

Radio Frequencies

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much revenue received from previous spectrum sales has been reinvested into digital infrastructure.

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has decided on a date for the conclusion of the public sector spectrum release.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Budget 2016 announces a new government commitment that 750MHz of valuable public sector spectrum in bands under 10GHz will be made available by 2022, of which 500MHz will be made available by 2020. All revenue from spectrum auctions is paid into the Consolidated Fund operated by HM Treasury.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Resignations

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of his Department resigned in each of the last six years.

Mr Edward Vaizey: 2011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16Resignations (FTE)1030181521Payroll Employees (FTE)457376381461517Proportion2%8%5%3%4% The data for resignations has been sourced from the HR Management System Leavers Reports for each financial year. Data is recorded from 2011 onwards and records prior to this data cannot be provided. The Total headcount figures have been sourced from the DCMS Annual Accounts and only employees who were on DCMS payroll at the point they left the department are included in the data above.

Broadband: Northampton South

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2016 to Question 30395, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) consumers are aware of the broadband speeds available to them and (b) internet service providers are transparent with consumers about the best speeds available.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Ofcom's Broadband speeds Code of Practice requires that Internet Service Providers provide consumers with clear, accurate information on broadband speeds, including the maximum speeds they can achieve, the estimated speed on their line, and factors that may slow down the speed, such as any fair use or traffic management policies.In addition, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) provides rules on how headline broadband speed claims are presented to consumers, including requiring the use of the qualification 'up to' when presenting the headline broadband speed, and that the maximum stated speed must be achieved by at least 10% of the relevant customer base.

Museums and Galleries: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that regional museums and galleries are adequately funded.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Councils have almost £200 billion to spend on local services, over the lifetime of this parliament. It is for each local authority who know their area best to decide how to allocate its budget to provide museum services to its communities. In addition, through the Arts Council England, DCMS has increased funding for 21 Major Partner Museums Networks (130 Museums in total) from £20.3m to £22.6 million over 2015-2018. Regional museums can bid for funds from ACE's £10 million per year Resilience Fund, and for lottery funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. We are also investing millions of pounds to boost local and regional museums, for example, £5 million towards a new South Asia Gallery at Manchester Museum and £2.5 million to the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. As announced in our Culture White Paper, we will conduct a wide-ranging review into the museums sector that will examine local and regional museums, as well as Government-sponsored museums and the museums infrastructure nationally.

Flags

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the criteria are for listing specific days in mandatory flag flying days in the list published by his Department on the gov.uk website.

David Evennett: The designated days for flying the Union Flag on Government buildings have been set specifically to mark special occasions by command of Her Majesty the Queen and on the advice of Government.

Flags

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the process is for approval of additions or removals of mandatory days for flying the national flag from the list  published by his Department on the gov.uk website; which official of his Department has responsibility for that list; and how often that list is revised.

David Evennett: My officials discuss any additions or changes with the Lord Chamberlain's Office. The Designated Days for the flying of the Union Flag are agreed each year and published on the DCMS presence on GOV.UK. There are currently no plans to change the list.

Video on Demand

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of progress towards increasing the provision of access services on video on demand content.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the provision of access services on video on demand content.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The provision of access services on video on demand content has increased in recent years, according to the 2015 Authority for Television on Demand report which can be found here: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/on-demand/access-european/AS_survey_report_2015.pdf. The evidence in this report is supported by dialogue with broadcasters, content providers and platform operators, who fed back to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in Autumn 2015. Ofcom, the principle regulator for video on demand services, is reviewing how to improve the provision of access services on video on demand services.

Arts: Leadership

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made in encouraging diversity in leadership positions in the culture sector.

Mr Edward Vaizey: In the recently published Culture White Paper we made it clear that more needs to be done to encourage diversity in leadership positions. From this year, Arts Council England will publish data on leadership looking at the diversity profile of Chief Executives, Artistic Directors and Chairs of the organisations that they fund. In December 2015, the Arts Council announced four new strategic funds for diversity, totalling £8.6 million. This included £2.1 million for the Elevate fund which has been created to develop the strength, management and governance of diverse-led organisations outside the Arts Council's National Portfolio. A new £2.6 million Change Makers fund will fund long-term relationships between National Portfolio Organisations and aspiring arts leaders from the BME and deaf and disabled communities, providing valuable experience to individuals. Both of these funds are now open for applications.

Department for Work and Pensions

Children: Maintenance

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many investigations have been undertaken by the Financial Investigation Unit of the Child Maintenance Group in each of the financial years since April 2012 to March 2013.

Priti Patel: Child Maintenance Group’s Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) was established on 1 April 2014. For the financial year 2014 – 2015 the FIU conducted 3,749 investigations resulting in both civil and criminal investigations. For the financial year 2015 – 2016 the FIU conducted 3,186 investigations resulting in both civil and criminal investigations.

Fit for Work Programme

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost has been of establishing and running the Fit for Work programme to date.

Justin Tomlinson: The cost to the end of March 2016 of establishing and running Fit for Work is £25.8m. A further £1m was spent with PricewaterhouseCoopers on the independent audit function.

Fit for Work Programme

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department's contract with Maximus/HML for provision of the Fit for Work programme contains provision for penalties in the event of early termination or truncation of that programme.

Justin Tomlinson: The contract does not contain specific provision for penalties in the event of early termination.

Fit for Work Programme

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what duration for the Fit for Work programme was agreed in his Department's contract with Maximus/HML.

Justin Tomlinson: The contract was awarded on the 25th July 2014 for a period of 5 years.

Fit for Work Programme

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total cost to the public purse is of the Maximus/HML contract for delivery of the Fit for Work programme.

Justin Tomlinson: The original agreed contract value with HML was £132.9m. This is for the whole life of the contract and was awarded on 25 July 2014 for a period of 5 years.

Fit for Work Programme

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been spent advertising the Fit for Work programme since that programme went live.

Justin Tomlinson: The cumulative cost of marketing and advertising to Health Management Ltd (HML), which delivers Fit for Work in England and Wales, has been £1,865,414 since the programme went live. The Scottish Government is responsible for delivering Fit for Work in Scotland, and has spent £27,708 on marketing activities and a further £187,679 on its website.

Fit for Work Programme

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff employed in delivering the Fit for Work programme are (a) registered as disabled or in receipt of disabled people's benefits and (b) returning to work after serious illness or injury.

Justin Tomlinson: Health Management Ltd (HML), responsible for delivering Fit for Work in England and Wales, does not hold records of staff members who are disabled or who are in receipt of disabled person’s benefits although the company does provide the opportunity for people to self-declare a disability should they wish to do so. Since Fit for Work was launched, seven members of staff have returned to work following a serious illness or injury. ‘Serious illness or injury’ is here considered to mean an absence of four weeks or more. For Scottish Government, which is responsible for delivering Fit for Work in Scotland, does not collect this information centrally.

Fit for Work Programme

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff are employed in delivering the Fit for Work programme in (a) Sheffield, (b) Nantgarw and (c) the UK.

Justin Tomlinson: As at 31 March 2016, Health Management Limited (HML), which delivers in England and Wales, employs 83.93 staff at its Sheffield office, 18 staff at its Nantgarw office and a further 19.6 staff elsewhere in England and Wales. Fit for Work Scotland employs 46.4 staff in Scotland. The total for the UK is therefore 167.9. (Staffing numbers are given in full-time-equivalent figures)

Work and Health Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the effect on annual spending on (a) employment support by non-government providers and (b) Jobcentre Plus of the introduction of the Work and Health Programme; and if he will make a statement.

Priti Patel: Holding answer received on 19 April 2016



Contracted provision will continue to play a crucial role in supporting the long term unemployed and those with health conditions and disabilities. The new Work & Health Programme will support those who have reached the 24 month point in their claim as well as targeted referrals of claimants with health conditions and disabilities. By 2020/21, the core funding from central government for this provision will be around £130m a year. We will work closely with the market to ensure a smooth transition from existing provision to the new provision.

Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of working couples who in 2020-21 will be eligible for universal credit and who will receive more if they are living apart than if they are living together; and if he will make a statement.

Priti Patel: Holding answer received on 19 April 2016



We do not issue forecasts of these volumes. The number of working couples on Universal Credit and their circumstances will vary according to a number of factors, such as the economic climate. Even if this data were published, such forecasts will change over time.

Unemployment: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Youth Obligation can be extended beyond six months for a participant who is not work-ready at the end of that period.

Priti Patel: Holding answer received on 19 April 2016



The Youth Obligation will be introduced from April 2017 for 18-21 year old Universal Credit claimants (UC) in the all work related requirements conditionality group. At the 6 month stage, UC claimants who are not in work, on an Apprenticeship or participating in work-related training, will be required to go on a mandatory work placement to give them the skills they need to get on in work.

Remploy: Cynon Valley

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2016 to Question 32065, if his Department will collect data on the number of former workers of Remploy factories in the Cynon Valley constituency are (a) looking for work, (b) in work, (c) retired, (d) in receipt of employment and support allowance, (e) in receipt of jobseeker's allowance and (f) in receipt of universal credit.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department collected management information on former Remploy disabled employees that gave consent to be tracked during the 18 month People Help and Support Package (PHSP). Although this package ended in August 2015, former Remploy disabled employees that continue to need support can continue to access the specialist employment support that is available for all disabled people including Work Choice and Specialist Employability Support.

Occupational Pensions

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the total number of members of master trust pension schemes.

Justin Tomlinson: The Pensions Regulator publish such estimates in their ‘DC Trust: a presentation of scheme return data’ publication, which can be found at the following link for 2015-16:http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/doc-library/dc-trust-a-presentation-of-scheme-return-data-2016.aspx This publication shows that there were 3.9m members in master trust schemes as at 31 December 2015.

Housing Benefit

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department's latest estimate is of the number of parents with children who will be claiming housing benefit in April 2017.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not available.

Ministry of Defence

Bahrain: Military Aid

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel from Royal Navy 43 Commando Fleet Protection Group were involved in training Bahraini defence force personnel in January 2016; and what such training consisted of.

Penny Mordaunt: The UK enjoys close links with Bahrain, spanning 200 years, that reinforce our commitment to the Gulf region. While on a visit to the region with HMS ST ALBANS, in suppport of this relationship, two personnel from 43 Commando Royal Marines undertook weapon training with the Bahraini Defence Forces.

Falkland Islands

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when a British frigate or destroyer was last assigned to protect the Falkland Islands; whether there has been any change in his Department's policy on the provision of such protection: and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt: The Atlantic Patrol Tasking (South) duty provides a tangible presence in the South Atlantic, maintaining a commitment to provide support and reassurance to British Overseas Territories in the region, including the Falkland Islands.The last frigate or destroyer in the vicinity of the Falkland Islands was the Type 23 frigate HMS LANCASTER; she completed this task in early December 2015.There has been no change to our policy. We continually review our security posture in the Falkland Islands, which remain defended by a range of military assets including the patrol vessel HMS CLYDE, a Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ship and around 1,200 UK personnel operating Royal Air Force Typhoon jets, ground defences and supporting infrastructure. In addition, other Royal Navy ships would be retasked to the Falkland Islands if required.

Falkland Islands

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure a continuous presence of Royal Navy vessels in the Falkland Islands.

Penny Mordaunt: The Royal Navy has a permanent presence in the South Atlantic in the form of the Falkland Islands Patrol Vessel, HMS CLYDE, supported by a Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship. The Royal Navy's Ice Patrol Ship, HMS PROTECTOR, also operates in the South Atlantic region for periods of the year.Other Royal Navy ships continue on normal operations in the Atlantic and would be retasked to the Falkland Islands if required.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of airstrikes that have been conducted by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

Penny Mordaunt: The UK has a small number of military personnel serving as liaison officers to Saudi headquarters to provide insight into Saudi operations. The UK is not a member of the coalition and the release of operational data is a matter for the coalition.

Home Office

Asylum: Housing

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Compass asylum accommodation contract with Serco for the region of Scotland and Northern Ireland, how many faults were reported or identified from Compass inspections for each contractual pay period in the years 2014-15 and 2015-16; and how many such were not resolved within the agreed contractual timescales.

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Compass asylum accommodation contract with G4S for the region of North East England and Yorkshire and Humber, how many faults were reported or identified from Compass inspections for each contractual pay period in 2014-15 and 2015-16; and how many such faults were not resolved within the agreed contractual timescales.

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Compass asylum accommodation contract with Clearsprings Ready Home Limited for the region of Wales and South West England, how many faults were reported or identified from Compass inspections for each contractual pay period in 2014-15 and 2015-16; and how many such faults were not resolved within the agreed contractual timescales.

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Compass asylum accommodation contract with G4S for the region of Midlands and East England, how many faults were reported or identified from Compass inspections for each contractual pay period in 2014-15 and 2015-16; and how many such faults were not resolved within the agreed contractual timescales.

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Compass asylum accommodation contract with Clearsprings Ready Home Limited for the region of London and South East England, how many faults were reported or identified from Compass inspections for each contractual pay period in 2014-15 and 2015-16; and how many such faults were not resolved within the agreed contractual timescales.

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Compass asylum accommodation contract with Serco for the region of North West England, how many faults were reported or identified from Compass inspections for each contractual pay period in 2014-15 and 2015-16; and how many such faults were not resolved within the agreed contractual timescales.

James Brokenshire: Providers are contractually required to provide safe, habitable, fit for purpose and correctly equipped accommodation to comply with the Housing Act 2004 and the Decent Homes Standard. Providers are monitored closely to ensure accommodation meets these standards and the contracts include measures to ensure any issues are quickly addressed. These performance standards are defined in the contract and are managed using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) including those which measure whether an individual property is compliant with contractual obligations following an inspection and also the number of service users effected if a fault is not repaired within the contract timescales.The Home Office does not centrally record the number of individual faults reported or identified during accommodation inspections, or the number of individual faults not resolved within the agreed timescales. The requested information could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Refugees: Yazidis

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will extend the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme to Yazidi women who are Iraqi victims of Daesh; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Home Office: Cheshire

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many jobs in (a) her Department and (b) each of her Department's non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.

James Brokenshire: The Department records actual staffing levels, but does not centrally record the number of jobs by location. Records show that since 2010 neither (a) the Department or (b) the Department’s executive non-departmental public bodies and statutory bodies, including Advisory and Tribunal NDPBs, have had staff based within the Cheshire East local authority area.There are therefore no plans for posts to be reduced in this area. The Department’s executive non-departmental Public Bodies are:• the Independent Police Complaints Commission;• the Gangmasters Licensing Authority;• the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner;• the Security Industry Authority; and• the Disclosure and Barring ServiceFurthermore the National Crime Agency, a non-ministerial government department, and the College of Policing also do not have offices or staff based in Cheshire East.

HM Treasury

Overseas Companies: Taxation

Imran Hussain: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to allow the exchange of tax information of UK-listed companies with developing countries.

Mr David Gauke: The UK supports efforts to improve tax transparency. We initiated international work on country-by-country (CbC) reporting during our G8 Presidency in 2013, calling on the OECD to develop a framework for CbC reporting to tax authorities as part of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. This important initiative will enhance transparency between business and tax authorities, including those of developing countries. The UK has published regulations on 26 February 2016 implementing the OECD CbC reporting framework. We have also signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement which allows from the automatic exchange of the OECD CbC reports between relevant tax authorities. All countries are free to enter into international agreements so that they can exchange reports under the Multilateral Convention, bilateral double tax conventions or tax information exchange agreements.

Solar Power: VAT

Ronnie Cowan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Revenue and Customs plans to drop proposals currently under consultation to increase VAT on solar in response to the EU VAT action plan published on 7 April 2016.

Mr David Gauke: The reduced VAT rate for solar products remains unchanged and in place.

Overseas Companies: Annual Reports

Imran Hussain: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making country-by-country reporting of UK-listed company profits publicly available.

Mr David Gauke: The UK supports efforts to improve tax transparency. We initiated the international work on country-by-country (CbC) reporting to tax authorities during our G8 Presidency in 2013, calling on the OECD to develop a template for this as part of the BEPS project. The UK was the first to commit to implementing the OECD model with legislation in Finance Act 2015. The Government believes that there is scope for greater transparency by pressing the case for public CbC reporting on a multilateral basis. As the Chancellor has said, this is something that the UK will seek to promote internationally. The European Commission has now proposed amendments to the Accounting Directive for public CbC reporting, and we believe these proposals are a step in the right direction towards new international rules for greater public transparency

Taxation

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to reduce tax avoidance and tax crime in the UK's overseas territories and Crown dependencies.

Mr David Gauke: The UK initiated the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project under our G8 Presidency in 2013 to stop multinational enterprises exploiting gaps and mismatches between countries’ tax rules. We were one of the first countries to adopt the recommendations from the project. We also called on the OECD to develop a framework for Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting to tax authorities. We’ve implemented the OECD framework and have pushed to go further, with the Chancellor calling for public CbC reporting in the EU and G20. The Commission’s recent proposals are a step in the right direction, and we will give full consideration to them. In addition, as a result of our G8 Presidency in 2013, more than 90 countries have agreed to automatically exchange taxpayer financial account information under the Common Reporting Standards, and create company beneficial ownership registers. Under pressure from the UK Government, the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories have signed up to these new standards.

Income Tax: National Insurance

Adam Afriyie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the report by the Office for Tax Simplification's, The closer alignment of income tax and national insurance, published in March 2016.

Mr David Gauke: Budget 2016 announced that the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) will review the impacts of moving employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs) to an annual, cumulative and aggregated basis and moving employer NICs to a payroll basis. After this review, the Government will respond in full to the OTS’s review of the closer alignment of income tax and NICs.

Soft Drinks: Corporation Tax

Iain Stewart: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what amount of corporation tax was paid by soft drinks manufacturers in the latest financial year for which figures are available.

Mr David Gauke: Corporation Tax payable for accounting periods ending in the financial year 2013-14 for companies manufacturing soft drinks, and producing mineral water is estimated to be about £70 million. This estimate is based on those classified under the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2007 code 11070 (Manufacture of soft drinks; production of mineral waters and other bottled waters) plus those manufacturing soft drinks who are classified elsewhere. This is the latest year available.

Soft Drinks: Taxation

Iain Stewart: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish modelling conducted by his Department on the potential effect of the soft drinks industry levy on corporation tax receipts.

Damian Hinds: The independent Office of Budget Responsibility publishes the policy costing and forecast of the tax receipts at every fiscal event, which contain the relevant economic analysis.

Soft Drinks: Taxation

Iain Stewart: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what external groups his Department consulted on its proposal to introduce a soft drinks industry levy before announcing that levy; and on what dates he or officials of his Department met such groups.

Damian Hinds: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Soft Drinks: Taxation

Iain Stewart: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on which other European countries have introduced a soft drinks industry levy in the last five years; and what research the Government has commissioned or undertaken on the effects of such levies on levels of obesity.

Damian Hinds: Other European countries have introduced a soft drinks tax in recent years. For example, Hungary in 2011 and France in 2012. These taxes however are not identical in design to the new soft drinks industry levy the Chancellor announced at Budget 2016. The levy is a lever to encourage producer-led reformulation. The Chief Medical Officer has said that reformulation is a key win for tackling obesity and soft drinks are the single largest source of sugar intake for children and teenagers. This levy will be an important part of the government’s comprehensive childhood obesity strategy.

Individual Savings Accounts

Julian Knight: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the readiness of the financial services industry to provide lifetime ISAs.

Harriett Baldwin: The new Lifetime ISA will provide savers with the flexibility to save towards a first home and retirement at the same time. From April 2017, people aged 18 to 40 will be able to save up to £4,000 each year into a Lifetime ISA and receive a 25% bonus from the Government. The Government is engaging with the industry on the detail of implementation of the Lifetime ISA to ensure that it is delivered for April 2017.

Budget March 2016

Tristram Hunt: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) staff and (b) other costs to his Department were for the production of chart 1.5 on page 21 of the 2016 Budget Book.

Harriett Baldwin: A number of Treasury officials were involved in preparing the Chancellor’s Budget Report. The government does not calculate the costs of producing individual charts at fiscal events.

Maternity Pay: Self-employed

David Morris: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to introduce maternity pay for self-employed women; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke: The Government has continued to improve the support and flexibility of parental pay and leave, spending around £3 billion a year on maternity payments to support pregnant women and new mothers and to help them achieve a better balance between their work and home lives. Self-employed mothers can receive Maternity Allowance. The standard rate of Maternity Allowance is the same as the standard rate of Statutory Maternity Pay.

Self-employed Contributions

David Morris: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment as to how much the abolition of class 2 national insurance contributions will save on average for each self-employed person; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke: The abolition of Class 2 NICs means that 3.4 million self-employed individuals will gain by an average of £134 in 2018-19 when Class 2 National Insurance contributions are abolished. This will allow millions of self-employed individuals to keep more of their money and invest it back into growing their business, as well as ending an outdated and complex feature of the NICs system.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

District Heating: Carbon Emissions

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department has a strategy to ensure that the growth of district heating is accompanied by the development of non-fossil fuel heat sources that are compatible with long term carbon emissions targets.

Andrea Leadsom: Yes. The development of heat networks and non-fossil fuel heat sources needs to go hand in hand. One of the key benefits of heat networks is that they can be used to transport heat from a wide range of low carbon heat sources. The Government’s support for both renewable heating and district heating (heat networks) was confirmed in the Autumn Statement. My Rt Hon friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer made clear that the Renewable Heat Incentive will see an increase in funding to £1.15 billion by 2020-21 and separately that over £300 million of funding would be made available for up to 200 heat networks to generate enough heat to support the equivalent of 400,000 homes. We are currently designing the Heat Network Investment Fund to allocate this funding, which is due to launch later in 2016 and run until 2021. We are keen to ensure that the projects supported by the fund are low carbon, economically viable and strategically designed to ensure future growth and development. We expect a range of projects with a mix of different heat sources to come forward for support, as we have seen with those Local Authority projects already supported at the development stage by the Government’s Heat Network Delivery Unit. As well as fossil fuelled Combined Heat and Power, such sources include non-fossil fuel heat from waste, deep geothermal heat, water-sourced heat pumps and heat from underground minewater. In addition, DECC’s innovation budget was doubled; some of this will be used to support the development of low carbon technology in heat delivery.

Department for Energy and Climate Change: Resignations

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of her Department resigned in each of the last six years.

Andrea Leadsom: The number of leavers in each financial year from 2011/12 is show in the following table. Leavers data for the full year 2010/11 is not available as data prior to 1 November 2010 is not held on the current HR database. All figures include Core DECC and the Oil and Gas Authority Agency. Headcount figures include Permanent staff, Fixed Term and Short Term appointments. YearNo of Leavers% of Headcount2011/12423%2012/13413%2013/14634%2014/15905%2015/16573.3%

Climate Change

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential effect of discontinuing funding for the Climate Local programme on the likely level of local authorities' contributions to delivering the UK's emissions reductions targets.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 18 April 2016



The Department continues to work closely with Local Authorities, LEPs and other local decision makers to support their hard work in reducing local emissions. My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular meetings with Cabinet colleagues on a variety of subjects but has not specifically discussed Climate Local with my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Civil Nuclear Constabulary

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will meet office bearers of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary Police Federation to discuss retirement age.

Andrea Leadsom: Yes. I will meet with the office bearers of the Civil Nuclear Police Federation and will be writing to them to this effect.

Fracking

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what protections the Government has put in place to ensure that historic towns are not adversely affected by shale gas extraction.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 19 April 2016



The Government has been clear that shale development must be safe and environmentally sound, maintaining the very highest safety and environmental standards. Any impacts of shale gas exploration proposals on the historic environment are fully taken into account through the planning system. The National Planning Policy Framework explains that when considering the impact of a proposed development on the significance of a designated heritage asset, great weight should be given to the asset’s conservation. Designated heritage assets include World Heritage Sites, scheduled monuments, listed buildings and conservation areas. In addition, the Government has consulted on measures to ensure that hydraulic fracturing cannot be conducted from wells that are drilled at the surface of our most valuable areas, including World Heritage Sites, and we will publish our response to the consultation shortly.

Carbon Emissions

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department has made a detailed assessment of the effect of the Government's energy policy carbon dioxide emissions in the UK in each year since 2010; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: Provisional statistics for 2015 indicate that greenhouse gas emissions have fallen 38% since 1990 and 17% since 2010. Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 1990Units: MtCO2e201020112012201320142015(p)Emissions reduction since 1990-24%-31%-28%-30%-35%-38%Source: DECC (2016) Provisional UK greenhouse gas emissions national statistics 2015 A significant proportion of this reduction is being driven by policies. For those policies where we have been able to estimate the emissions impacts, annual estimates are detailed in Annex D of our Energy and Emissions Projections, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-energy-and-emissions-projections-2015.

Power Stations: Pembrokeshire

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much funding her Department has provided for security at energy sites in Pembrokeshire in each of the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government takes the security of the energy sector very seriously and DECC works closely with industry, the police and the relevant agencies in order to make sure of a robust and proportionate security regime at energy sites across the UK. For reasons of national security it would not be appropriate to provide specific details about protective security programmes.

Nuclear Reactors

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the likely timescale of type approval of first modular nuclear technology.

Andrea Leadsom: Any nuclear reactor or facility proposed for deployment in the UK will be subject to robust and independent regulatory scrutiny. Therefore, any small modular reactor (SMR) design proposed for construction would undergo safety, security and environmental design assessment. A reactor design would only be allowed to progress if the independent regulator was satisfied it was compliant with the UK’s stringent safety standards. At Budget 2016, the Government committed to publishing a SMR delivery roadmap that will clarify the UK’s plan for addressing SMR related regulatory approvals, along with siting and skills issues.

Carbon Emissions

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals for the transition to a zero-carbon economy.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government believes we will need to take the step of enshrining the global goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions, reached at the UN climate summit at the end of 2015, into UK law. The question is not whether but how we do it. As a first step, our independent advisors, the Committee on Climate Change, is looking at the implications of the commitments in Paris, including the zero carbon emissions goal. It has said that it will report in the autumn. We will consider carefully the recommendations of the Committee. This Government is committed to the Climate Change Act and the target of at least an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Our priority this year is setting the fifth carbon budget (covering the period 2028-32) by the end of June and developing our plan on how we will meet our existing targets. We are clear that this must be done while keeping our energy supply safe and costs as low as possible for hardworking families and businesses.

Cabinet Office

UK Membership of EU: Referendums

Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans the Government has to make its leaflet on continuing membership of the EU accessible to people with (a) learning, (b) visual and (c) other disabilities.

John Penrose: The leaflet has been made available on Gov.uk and is compatible with assistive technology, and in hard copy in English and Welsh. An audio version and large print version are also available on Gov.uk. CDs of the audio version are being sent to those that are not able to access the website. A braille version will be available on request.

Communication Directorate General

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many meetings have taken place between officials of his Department and the European Commission Directorate-General for Communication in each of the last 12 months.

Matthew Hancock: There have been no meetings between Cabinet Office officials and the European Commission Directorate-General for Communication in the last 12 months.

Ministerial Policy Advisers

Mr Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many special advisers are employed by the Government; and how many such advisers are (a) women, (b) from black and ethnic minority communities and (c) registered disabled.

Mr Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average pay is of (a) all, (b) male and (c) female special advisers.

Matthew Hancock: The Government is committed to publishing information about the cost of special advisers. Information on the numbers, costs and specific salaries of special advisers is therefore published on an annual basis.The latest publication of this information can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486829/List_of_Special_Advisers_in_post_at_17_December_2015.pdfInformation on the numbers of Special Advisers employed by the Government is published annually. The most recent publication of this information can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486829/List_of_Special_Advisers_in_post_at_17_December_2015.pdfSpecial Advisers are employees of the specific department they work for. Due to this, demographic information on Special Advisers is not centrally held.

Pay

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the mean annual gross pay was for jobs in (a) manufacturing, (b) services and (c) the whole economy in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - Mean Annual Gross Pay
(PDF Document, 84.39 KB)

Cabinet Office: Cheshire

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department's non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.

Matthew Hancock: None.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Central Point of Expertise on Timber

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many queries the Central Point of Expertise on Timber has received from (a) public sector bodies and (b) businesses in each of the last 10 years.

Rory Stewart: The Central Point of Expertise on Timber service closed on 31 March 2016. Defra does not hold complete information on how many queries the service received in the format requested. The contractors advised that the number of queries had dropped over time. We hold some information from the final phase of the contract between 2012 and 2016, which illustrates this trend. The service received 257 queries between October 2012 and September 2013, 146 queries between October 2013 and September 2014, and 48 queries between October 15 and March 2016. These figures cover queries on timber, wood fuel and palm oil. The government’s policy of buying timber and wood products only from legal and sustainable sources is well embedded within the key systems which govern our procurement, specifically the relevant government buying standards and the centralised procurement frameworks. Comprehensive online guidance is also provided.

Business: Climate Change

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether there was any consultation with businesses in flood-risk areas before the decision was taken to cut funding to the Climate Ready programme delivered by the Environment Agency.

Rory Stewart: Defra has not consulted on the Climate Ready Support Service delivered by the Environment Agency. The Service was originally envisaged as a three year programme that was extended to a fourth year in March 2015. This enabled completion of the majority of National Adaptation Programme actions to which the Service was contributing. Indeed the first National Adaptation Programme sets out more than 370 actions to help the UK better prepare for climate change - we continue to deliver on these actions and make sure adaptation is integrated across government policy making. The Environment Agency continues to play an important role in helping businesses adapt to climate change, in particular as part of its core role on flooding, coastal risks, water management, freshwater habitats, and as a statutory adviser in the land-use planning system. In addition, the EA will continue to provide advice to businesses and other organisations on using the UK climate projections and it will continue to contribute to a range of stakeholder groups. Over 70 online tools developed by the Climate Ready Support Service are available for use by businesses.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farmers have been subject to penalties for non-compliance with Single Farm Payment Scheme requirements in each of the last five years; and what the total value of those penalties was.

George Eustice: The volume of penalties, plus their value for Single Payment Scheme claims, for the last five years of the scheme are below.We have not yet finalised information for the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme.Scheme YearNumber of Claimants In BreachValue €20142,7032,489,43820132,1342,781,03920121,5741,704,08520111,7222,594,02320101,4932,329,495

Glass: Recycling

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of councils in England that provide doorstep glass collection.

Rory Stewart: Estimates on the number of kerbside collections of glass in the dry recycling stream are collated by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). Data for 2014/15 shows that in England the number of authorities providing a kerbside collection for glass was 290 (89% of English authorities). This represented 19,768,943 (85%) of all households within England.

Department of Health

Smoking

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of users of e-cigarettes who will return to smoking tobacco (a) in the year ending May 2017 and (b) in each year between May 2017 and the end of this Parliament as a result of the introduction of the EU Tobacco Products Directive.

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of users of e-cigarettes who will return to smoking tobacco in the 12 months after the introduction of the EU Tobacco Products Directive.

Jane Ellison: No such assessment has been made; the Department assesses the impact of all proposed measures before making legislation using standard government methodology. These Impact Assessments are scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee before publication alongside the Statutory Instrument.An assessment of the impact of the provisions introduced by the EU Tobacco Products Directive will be published alongside the implementing Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 in spring this year. The expected health benefits from improved smoking quit rates have been estimated at around £13 billion.

Mental Health Services: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions his Department had with the Department for Education on improving data centrally collected on the mental health and therapeutic support needs of children who have experienced abuse.

Alistair Burt: Holding answer received on 18 April 2016



As part of the Government strategy to tackle child sexual abuse the Department has engaged with other Government departments including the Department for Education to deliver the actions set out in in the Government’s Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation report of March 2015, on how to improve services to vulnerable groups including children who have experienced abuse. We shall consider how local data collected through this process might be made available nationally.

Hepatitis

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2016 to Question 20586, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England on achieving the aims of the draft Hepatitis C Improvement Framework and the decision to withdraw that draft framework.

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2016 to Question 20586, for what reasons the draft Hepatitis C Improvement Framework has been withdrawn.

Jane Ellison: The Department continues working with Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England to advance the public health ambitions set out in the initial framework to establish a strategic approach to tackle hepatitis C. Both PHE and NHS England are fully committed to improving hepatitis C outcomes including the long-term reduction in transmission of the virus in which treatment has a potentially major role to play. NHS England has been working on plans for access to treatment during 2016/17 and has committed to produce an operational framework for the treatment of hepatitis C during 2016/17. This will set out NHS England’s commitment to improving outcomes in hepatitis C across England.

Hepatitis

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people with hepatitis C commenced treatment in (a) England and (b) each Operational Delivery Network area between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2016.

Jane Ellison: Information on patient treatment is ordinarily documented in the detailed patient records held by service providers, and not held centrally by NHS England. For the period 1 April 2015 – 31 March 2016, based on information supplied by clinicians treating people with chronic hepatitis, NHS England estimate that 5,895 patients started treatment. Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs) were launched in August 2015 and therefore data by ODN as requested (1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016) are not held.

Incontinence: Children and Young People

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many emergency admissions there were for bladder and bowel problems amongst children and young people in each of the last five years.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of children and young people aged between (a) four and seven, (b) eight and 10 and (c) 11 and 16 with faecal incontinence in England.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of children and young people aged between (a) five and six, (b) seven and nine, (c) 10 and 15, and (d) 16 and 19 with nocturnal enuresis in England.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of children and young people aged between (a) five and six, (b) seven and 10, (c) 11 and 15, (d) 16 and 18 and (e) 19 and 24 with daytime urinary incontinence in England.

Jane Ellison: Information on nocturnal enuresis and daytime urinary incontinence in England is not available in the format requested. Such information available on hospital episodes is shown in the tables below.Table 1: Count of emergency finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary diagnosis of (a) incontinence and (b) constipation, where the patient age was 19 years and under, 2010-11 to 2014-15 IncontinenceYearNonorganic enuresisNonorganic encopresisStress incontinenceOther specified urinary incontinenceFaecal incontinenceUnspecified urinary incontinenceConstipation2010-112086167710,4692011-120036236510,3152012-1312411166610,5342013-141005216411,0432014-153225158511,501 Table 2: Count of FAEs with a primary diagnosis of faecal incontinence, for patients aged between (a) 4 to 7 years (b) 8 to 10 years and (c) 11 to 16 years, 2014-15 YearAge 4 – 7Age 8 – 10Age 11 – 162014-15452018 Table 3: Count of FAEs with a primary diagnosis of urinary incontinence, for patients aged between (a) 5 to 6 years, (b) 7 to 10 years (c) 11 to 15 years (d) 16 to 18 years and (e) 19 to 24 years, 2014-15YearAge 5 – 6Age 7 – 10Age 11 – 15Age 16 – 18Age 19 – 242014-15350946719141170 Table 4: Count of FAEs with a primary diagnosis of nonorganic enuresis, for patients aged between (a) 5 to 6 years (b) 7 to 9 years (c) 10 to 15 years and (d) 16 to 19 years, 2014-15 YearAge 5 – 6Age 7 – 9Age 10 – 15Age 16 – 192014-150150 Notes: Activity in English National Health Service Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, Health and Social Care Information Centre

HIV Infection

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all people diagnosed with HIV have access to (a) pre-exposure prophylaxis and (b) other treatments.

Jane Ellison: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a new use of HIV drugs which has shown clinical effectiveness in research trials at preventing HIV in people at high risk of getting HIV such as men who have sex with men and people with HIV-positive partners. PrEP would not be suitable for people who already have diagnosed HIV. However, in July 2015, NHS England approved a significant new investment in a ‘Treatment as Prevention’ programme whereby HIV drugs are offered to all newly diagnosed patients whatever their CD4 count. Previously, treatment would begin when the CD4 count has declined to 350 cells/mm3 or less. This will significantly decrease the chance of HIV transmission between individuals and also reduces the risk of illness in the person with HIV. The National Health Service continues to deliver excellent HIV treatment and care for people with HIV with referrals into services within two weeks of diagnosis.

Department of Health: Databases

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he expects to be consulted in cases where a Bulk Personal Dataset is required from his Department by an Agency under the provisions of Part 7 of the Investigatory Powers Bill.

George Freeman: The Investigatory Powers Bill does not include any powers to require the provision of a bulk personal dataset (BPD) to a security and intelligence agency. It does require that there should be robust and transparent safeguards relating to such an agency’s use of BPDs. This includes a new requirement for warrants to authorise the retention and examination of BPDs. The Bill provides for both class BPD warrants, covering datasets of a particular class, and specific BPD warrants, covering an individual dataset. The draft statutory Code of Practice provides further guidance on the factors that the security and intelligence agencies should consider in determining which type of warrant to apply for. These include whether the nature or provenance of the dataset raises particularly novel or contentious issues; whether it contains a significant component of intrusive data; and whether it contains a significant component of confidential information relating to members of sensitive professions. All warrants will be subject to the ‘double-lock’ safeguard meaning that they will be subject to approval by both a Secretary of State and a Judicial Commissioner.

Tobacco

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what input officials of his Department had on the commissioning of the research study on tobacco taxation and tobacco industry pricing by the Department of Health to the University of Bath awarded in September 2014.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the contract awarded by his Department to the University of Bath in September 2014 for research study on tobacco taxation and tobacco industry pricing was awarded on a competitive tender basis; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The Department’s National Institute for Health Research funds the Public Health Research (PHR) programme to generate evidence to inform the delivery of non-National Health Service interventions intended to improve the health of the public and reduce inequalities in health. The programme has two workstreams: commissioned and researcher-led. The PHR commissioned workstream welcomes outline proposals in response to specific research questions prioritised for their public health importance. The application for the study ‘Understanding the impact of tobacco tax increases and tobacco industry pricing on smoking behaviours and inequalities’ was received through the researcher-led workstream and therefore did not go through a tender process via the commissioned workstream. Details of the PHR application process are available on the PHR website: www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/phr/application-process

NHS: Procurement

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS organisations have been charged statutory interest as a result of late payment in the last three years.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS organisations complied with the 30 day target for the payment of subcontractors set by the Government in the last period for which figures are available.

George Freeman: Figures on the number of National Health Service bodies recording instances of expenditure incurred under the ‘Late payment of commercial debt (Interest) Act 1998’, where it was incurred with non-NHS bodies, in the last three years, are provided in the following table. Sector2012-132013-142014-15NHS Trust192118NHS Foundation Trust91415Clinical Commissioning Groups10N/AN/APrimary Care Trusts2500Strategic Health Authorities2000Total333533Did not exist in 2012/13Did not exist after 2012/13 Figures on the number of NHS bodies meeting the 30 day payment target for subcontractors, where the information is available from the central accounts returns made to the Department are shown in the following table. SectorNHS TrustsEntities meeting Target25Total Entities in sector99

General Practitioners: Halton

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time GPs were employed in Halton constituency in each year since 2010.

Alistair Burt: The data is not available in the format requested. The information for NHS organisations covering the Halton area is shown in the table below.Total Full Time Equivalent General Practitioners (GPs) in Halton Area: 2010-14  Full Time Equivalents 20102011201220132014Total GPs (including retainers and registrars) Total of Selected Organisations198175183174192Halton And St Helens Primary Care Trust198175183.. NHS Halton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)...6674 NHS St Helens CCG...107118GPs (excluding retainers and registrars) Total of Selected Organisations169175177172182Halton And St Helens Primary Care Trust169175177.. NHS Halton CCG...6671 NHS St Helens CCG...107111  Notes:GP workforce figures are not available by constituency. Halton constituency is serviced by Halton CCG. Prior to the creation of CCGs, Halton constituency was contained within and serviced by Halton And St Helens Primary Care Trust.St Helens CCG has been provided in the figures for 2013 and 2014 for the purposes of comparability with previous years data'.' denotes not applicable Data Quality:The Health and Social Care Information Centre seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Source: The Health and Social Care Information Centre General and Personal Medical Services Statistics

Eyesight: Surgery

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department plans to assist with the implementation of new refractive surgery standards being drawn up by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what contribution his Department plans to make to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists' consultation on raising standards for refractive surgery.

Alistair Burt: Refractive eye surgery is regulated through providers being registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and doctors carrying out the surgery must be registered with the General Medical Council.Once the Royal College of Ophthalmologists refractive surgery standards are published, the General Medical Council would expect a doctor to be aware of them. When carrying out inspections and assessments of services, the CQC would also expect a provider to be following best practice guidance, which would include the standards published by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.These processes are well established and so the Department would not have a direct role in assisting in the implementation of the refractive surgery standards. However, the Department will maintain an interest in the consultation and the work of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in this area.

NHS: Procurement

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has made an assessment of the number of NHS organisations that have official terms and conditions that set payment terms longer than 30 days.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has conducted any research into the number of NHS organisations complying with guidance for the seven contract documents contained in the Guidance for NHS Terms and Conditions for the Supply of Goods and the Provision of Services, published in March 2015.

George Freeman: The Department has developed standard National Health Service terms and conditions for use by NHS bodies procuring goods and services from commercial suppliers. The documents were first published in August 2013. The Department has details of all activity on the gov.uk website which shows extensive use and downloads of the documents and has also invited regular feedback and online surveys that demonstrate the extensive use of the suite of documents. In June 2015, the Department and the Cabinet Office Mystery Shopper scheme carried out spot checks with a number of trusts to find out the level of take up of the NHS terms and conditions. The results showed 90% of the trusts contacted confirmed they were using (or intended to use) the NHS terms and conditions. The suite of documents has been endorsed by the Association of British Healthcare Industries (ABHI), the industry association for the medical technology sector, and the Health Care Supply Association, the representative and network organisation for NHS buyers. Both organisations inform the Department of any activity they are aware of that NHS bodies or suppliers are deviating from the stated terms and conditions. There have only limited examples to date. The Department of Health has been made aware of a couple of examples of where NHS bodies were extending their payment terms beyond 30 days. The examples came both via the Cabinet Office mystery shopper scheme and ABHI. To support their members ABHI undertook more extensive research but has found these are isolated cases and the practice is not widespread. The Department understands the concern and together with NHS Provider Regulators are working very closely with NHS providers to ensure that they have sufficient cash to support the safe delivery of their essential services. Although the NHS financial position is tight, the Department has not endorsed, and do not support, formal extensions of credit terms, particularly with Small and Medium size Enterprises, beyond the 30 days in statute. The Department will also ask NHS Improvement to communicate with all NHS providers through its official monthly bulletin to raise awareness of the Better Practice Payment Code.

General Practitioners

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 13 April 2016 to Question 32366, what assessment he has made of trends in the proportion of the NHS budget spent on general practice over the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: Overall National Health Service investment increased from £97.47 billion in 2010/11 to £110.56 billion in 2014/15, the last five years for which data is available. Over the same period, spending on general practice increased by £651 million in cash terms. The percentage of total NHS spend on general practice decreased from 8.6% to 8.1%. NHS England has committed to increasing the funding it invests in primary medical care by an average of 4.5% each year until 2020/21.

Mental Health

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to tackle loneliness among people with dementia.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to tackle loneliness among people with autism.

Alistair Burt: Loneliness is a complex problem and affects people in many different ways. There is no single solution that can tackle loneliness and many of the solutions to combatting it lie within local communities. Examples of emerging practice are provided on the Social Care Institute for Excellence Prevention Library. The Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020 set out a vision for a society where the public thinks and feels differently about dementia. It raises the importance of social action solutions such as peer support and befriending services which can also provide practical and emotional support to people with dementia and carers to reduce isolation and prevent crisis. The Prime Minister’s 2020 Challenge, promotes dementia friendly communities, which are helping to support people with dementia to live more independent and fulfilling lives in their own communities, for longer. Currently, there are around 140 communities across England. Towns, cities and villages have signed up to Alzheimer’s Society’s foundation-stage recognition process for dementia friendly communities and there are over 1.5 million Dementia Friends. The Cross Government Autism Strategy originally published as Fulfilling and Rewarding Lives in 2010 and updated as Think Autism in 2014 has done much to encourage innovation to break down social isolation by helping autistic people, their families and carers access health, social care, other public services, and peer support. Recently the Department has been working with the Autism Alliance UK, the largest network of autism charities, on the Connect to Autism project. It encourages local organisations, services and companies to become Autism Champions through training staff in autism awareness with a view to helping people who have autism overcome the anxiety and loneliness they can suffer in many everyday environments.

Pharmacy: Finance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much has been allocated to the community pharmacy contractual framework in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: Since the community pharmacy contractual framework was introduced in 2005, the usual practice has been to set one year funding settlements for community pharmacy. As previously announced, the funding for community pharmacy for 2016/17 is £2.63 billion. Discussions are being held with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, which represents pharmacy owners.We cannot comment further on future funding at this time.

HIV Infection

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what role clinical commissioning groups have in the prevention of HIV transmission.

Jane Ellison: Local authorities are responsible for commissioning HIV prevention. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for HIV testing when clinically indicated in CCG-commissioned services (including accident and emergency and other hospital departments).

Preventive Medicine

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what preventative programmes, other than for HIV prevention, are funded by Public Health England.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) distributes the public health grant to local authorities; the grant funds a number of prevention programmes including NHS Health Checks, the national child measurement programme and sexual health services. PHE also provides social marketing campaigns such as Be Clear on Cancer, Stoptober and Act FAST.In addition PHE provides advice and evidence to local authorities and NHS England on what works best, including providing expert advice on the diabetes prevention programme.More information on PHE’s activities can be found in PHE’s Strategic Plan:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/516985/PHE_Strategic_plan_2016.pdfwhich sets out how the organisation intends to protect and improve the public’s health and reduce inequalities over the next four years and outlines actions PHE will take over the next year to achieve these aims and deliver its core functions.

Autism

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) average and (b) longest length of time was that patients with a diagnosis of autism who were (i) adults and (ii) children were held on mental health wards in each of the last three years because they could not get a suitable living placement.

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients with a diagnosis of autism have been held on mental health wards in each of the last three years because they could not get a suitable living placement; and how many of those patients were (a) children and (b) adults.

Alistair Burt: The total number of adults with a diagnosis of autism who have been held on mental health wards was five in 2014 and 10 in 2015. The table below provides average and longest length for adults with a diagnosis of autism who were held on mental health wards in each of the last two years because they could not get a suitable living placement.   Longest length of stay (days)Average length of stay (days)  2014 Adults (aged 18 and over)4352362015 Adults (aged 18 and over)24971  Data for children for this same period cannot be provided as the total is fewer than five in each given year and cannot be made available in order to minimise disclosure risks associated with small numbers.

Hepatitis

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the new annual payments to infected individuals with stage 1 hepatitis C will be backdated to April 2016.

Jane Ellison: Under the reformed scheme, annual payments to the hepatitis C stage 1 cohort will be backdated to 1 April 2016.